Q) What is HCD?

The basic premise of Human-Centred Design (HCD) is that systems are designed to suit the characteristics of intended users and the tasks they perform, rather than requiring users to adapt to a system. Usability Testing (UT) is a key component of HCD and uses methods that rely on including users to test the ability of systems to support user needs (IMO Circular MSC.1/Circ.1512)

Q) Why was the Forum created?

Effective HCD requires that the intended users of systems participate in the design of those systems. In practice system designers and manufacturers may experience difficulty in finding a sufficient number of users of sufficient diversity willing to provide their feedback and participate directly in the HCD process.

The CIRM User Feedback Forum was therefore created to put system designers and manufacturers directly in touch with users who are willing to participate in system design and development and provide feedback, in order to promote and facilitate effective Human-Centred Design.

Q) How does it work?

The CIRM User Feedback Forum is hosted on the CIRM website and administered by the CIRM Secretariat. It is supported by The Nautical Institute.

Users interested in participating in system design can use the CIRM website to register for the User Pool, at which point their contact details will be added to a database.

When a system designer or manufacturer is seeking users to take part in a product development exercise, they will contact the CIRM Secretariat, who will put them in touch with the User Pool. The system designer/manufacturer will outline the terms and conditions of the user participation they are looking for and request participants accordingly. Willing users will respond, and the specific terms/conditions of their participation in the exercise will be arranged directly with the system designer/manufacturer.

Following the conclusion of the exercise, the system designer/manufacturer is obliged to report the outcome of the exercise to the Forum (note that this should include high-level, non-commercially sensitive information only). By way of example, the report could outline the location and scope of testing, and indicate that the user participation led to improvements in system functionality.

Services

CIRM User Feedback Forum

Introduction

FAQs

How to register

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